Declaration of Independence Essay

The Declaration of Independence is probably the most important document in American History. The Declaration showed all the terrible things that the king had done to the colonists and all the reasons why the United States of America had to become its own country. Great Britain had been violating the rights of the colonists by imposing taxes, not allowing them to represent themselves in parliament, not allowing them to pass laws, and many more things. All the colonists wanted to do was to live peacefully and prosperously and to govern themselves, but Britain would not allow it. The Declaration of Independence summed up all of these actions to show the king and the government why it was necessary for the colonies to separate from Britain. The Declaration was also used as a propaganda tool, for the Americans to state their reasons for rebellion and try to get other colonists to join them.

The writers of the Declaration of Independence used this document to try to get reluctant colonists to join them, as well as enemies of Britain. In the Declaration, they gave more than enough examples of how Britain was infringing their “unalienable rights”. They used these examples to try to get people to understand why they had to separate. The Declaration mainly attacks the king, giving a list of about 27 things that the king had done to hurt the colonies. The reason that this document is considered propaganda is that it spread information in order to help America and hurt Britain. The Declaration was the reason that France along with some other countries eventually joined the war, besides the fact that they were already enemies with Britain. These were the short term effects of the Declaration.

The Declaration of Independence influenced many things in American Culture. It eventually gave the colonies the freedoms that they wanted, and the ability to govern themselves. Without the Declaration, the colonists may not have been able to gain more allies...